The Life And Lies of Corey Carter
by Corey B. Carter
Summary: It's 2017, and we are back at Hogwarts- no, not with Albus or Scorpius- but with Corey Carter! Honestly, with all that Voldemort and Time-Turner business, it's hard to picture normal life that witches and wizards are entitled to. But this edition of The Life and Lies may not be as as outrageous or action-packed, however that doesn't mean it ain't worth it a read.
1. Chapter 1 - The Hogwarts Letter

_Dear Ms Carter_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at_ _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ _. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on_ _1 September_ _. We await your owl by no later than_ _31 July_ _._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Neville Longbottom [Deputy Headmaster]_

A grin splits open my face as I re-read the letter for the hundredth time. I feel so happy, I could literally burst, I mean- this practically lays out the next 7 years for me! 7 years of fun, friendship, magic, learning, MAGIC, and more! Okay, now I sound like an advert- do Hogwarts _have_ adverts? I wonder what they would look like-

"Just a daily reminder- _Woah_ \- Is that- Oh _wow_ , well done, sis!"

I glance up at my older brother, William, who's leaning on the door frame, his eyes wide. William is two years older than me, and going to start third year when I start (cause I'M GOING TO HOGWARTS) first year. He has dark brown hair, light brown eyes and isn't that tall. Then, suddenly, he starts marching towards me to read over my shoulder. I'm stood in the middle of my room, so it doesn't take long for him to come over, and-

"OI!" My voice _still_ sounds happy, no matter how much I tried to make it sound annoyed. Rushing down the stairs, I can hear Will's booming voice, aiming for _clearly_ , a further away audience. By the time we've both wizzed round the halls and rooms of our house, we reach my parents in the kitchen, both cooking.

Bursting open the door has a bit of a dramatic effect and mum and dad both look at us surprised, and then curiously. My mother has thin light brown hair that reaches mid back, and wears a knee-length dress, whereas my father has similar coloured hair to Will, and is wearing a weird jumper that was on sale along with a pair of jeans. However, it's pretty obvious, with the back door open, and the grass stains on his trousers that chopping carrots isn't the only thing he did today. For some reason, my father likes to garden, (how stereotypical, I know) yet, I feel as if he was roped by mum into helping her cook.

Mum notices first, and the pot lids she was levitating onto the counter drop abruptly and make a loud CRASH! My dad's eyes flicker for a moment to the lids, and soon enough, both of their eyes widened almost comically at the letter in my brother's hand.

"Is that a Hogwarts letter?" she asked, sounding proud. I nod quickly, and she pockets her wand to hug me as Will goes over to dad to show him the letter. Moments later, my six-year-old brother, Alex weaves his way around us to see what the fuss is about. It's not as if our excited voices were exactly quiet. As soon as I spot him, I move forwards, and lean down to give him a hug, which he returns enthusiastically once I say:

"I got into Hogwarts, Kiddo!"


	2. Chapter 2: The Hogwarts Express

For those of you who do not like shopping, I can assure you, the Diagon Alley trip was not as boring as let's say…. _clothes_ shopping, still as necessary though. I somehow managed to survive hours of shopping, merely with the energy from my excitement of buying my school supplies. Dad, Will and I all arrived by floo. An hour later, Will saw a few of his mates, Regan and Vincent. I don't know much about them, but I remember Will saying once that Vincent had managed to get everyone to call him "Larry". But before at the end of first year he got a Howler (for what, I have no clue), and he was addressed as _Vincent_ by his parents. I think people got a little confused.

Getting my wand at Ollivanders was a worthy thing to talk about though-

 _Dad had met a friend of his at Flourish and Blotts, so Will and I just told him we'd get my wand while he's busy being making small talk with his mate. Upon entering Ollivanders, I remember thinking: 'This is it, I'm getting my wand, my final step to being ready for Hogwarts, to being a witch-' I was kind of interrupted out of my thoughts by Ollivanders voice. He was serving another customer, oh okay, we'll wait. I glanced up at my brother, only to find him gaping. I soon realised why._

" _There you are, Miss Heidi Smith. 7 galleons, please."_

 _Heidi Smith. I didn't know whether to be confused, angry, or extremely happy. My best friend from the moment I stepped in that muggle primary school, 5 years ago, was a witch. And she didn't tell me!_

" _Heidy!" I think I sounded surprised when I said this, but I was too busy processing this LIFE-CHANGING information to know for sure. She whipped her head around, her face as shocked as I felt. Then, she looked….relieved._

" _Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, eyes wide._

" _Why didn't you?" She asked back, quickly handing over the money, and then turning to face me properly. "I just- this is all so unreal. Are you…..'muggleborn' too?"_

" _Er….no" I replied, looking down, I didn't even have to look at her to know she was confused. I guess it's one thing to lie to a friend for a summer, but 5 years? How come I didn't notice? Surely I would have seen a bit of accidental magic or something! "All my family are magical."_

 _Finally looking up, I could practically see her the gears turning in her brain. Will nudged me. Oh, right- my wand._

" _Bringing your sister her wand, are you, William Carter? I trust your wand is working fine, yes?" Ollivander smiled at my brother, as he nodded back at him. Will pushed me forward._

" _Yeah, Corey needs a wand." He said, sharply, not wanting to waste Ollivander's time with my unexpected run-in with Heidi._

" _Your father's second wand was one of the first I made after the Second War, I have a lot restocked now. Miss Carter. Which is your wand arm? Ollivander asked, grabbing some measuring tape._

 _It went on like this, and throughout the whole time, Heidy stood in the corner of the shop, I presume, waiting for an explanation. Once I had paid for my wand - Redwood, 10¾", Dragon-heartstring, with "Pliant Flexibility" - Heidi spoke._

" _Ok. So..you're going to Hogwarts with me? And Will's 'far-away-selective-boarding-school' is Hogwarts." The last sentence was not a question. She knew it and I did too, I'm just glad she wasn't mad at me._

" _Yeah. I'm sorry," I started, sounding as sincere as I could. "Did someone explain to you about the Wizarding World to you when you got your letter? What did your family think?"_

 _We talked, and laughed, my brother rolled his eyes behind us, and I think… I think things just got a whole lot better._

See? Really unexpected. We told my parents about it, and they seemed pretty happy for me. So, that's a good sign. Well, anyway. Right now, my dad, Will and I are sat at the table, stuffing our faces with food. It's nearly 9am.

"Dad…..I think we need to go. Its takes half an hour to get to Kings Cross, and...come on!" I say, standing up from the table, taking my plates and glass with me to the sink. I hear a faint "Yeah, dad, come on." from Will. I think he gets up too, as when I return, it's just my Dad at the table.

"Go see if your mum and Alex are coming, will you, Corey?" He requests, in between gulps of orange juice.  
"Yeah, sure." I say loudly, already out the room and on my way up the stairs. I hear movement from Will's room and go to investigate.

Will has a loft bed to one side of his room, a wardrobe and computer on a wooden desk on the other. By the desk, is Alex, sitting in a black chair, playing _Crossy Road_ on the Desktop. I move over to tickle him and tell him that we're leaving soon. Alex logs off immediately and runs down the stairs as - what could be more exciting than seeing the Hogwarts Express?

I knock on my parent's room, and get a-

"Come in!" as a reply. As I walk in, I see my mother grabbing socks from a draw.

"You excited?" She questions, looking up at me with a motherly smile.

"Yup. I can't wait." I say promptly, then, I smirk. "That, is why, _dearest mother_ , you must hurry, before we miss the train. And we can't have that, can we?" I gesture to the door, and she laughs.

"Of course not. I'll be down in a minute, go help your dad downstairs." I take her suggestion, and go back down the stairs. It turns out that Will already has my trunk in the boot, but his is still on our doorstep. Seeing a perfect opportunity, I quickly get a hold of it, and drag it to the car.

As soon as Will catches sight of me, he raises an eyebrow.

"You managing okay, there? …..You seem to be ….. _struggling_."

"Oh, no, I'm absolutely fine!" I manage out, before dropping the trunk with a loud _thump_. "Ok, spill, mate. What the hell have you got in there!?" I say, pointing to the brown trunk.

Will waves that off, pressing on with something else.

"Now, now, Corey. I understand you have not got the _intelligence_ of your _amazing_ and _favourite_ and _superior_ older brother ("and _only_ one," I mutter). But, were you not talking about your common sense yesterday? Surely, with that common sense you 'claim' to have…...you would have asked Dad to just levitate it into the car?"

I don't think even _I_ know the amount of times I rolled my eyes whilst Will was talking, but I think when Dad did turn up, and did just as Will said, his proud smirk was enough to send me crazy.

"Move it, you idiot," I mutter, again, shoving him into the car. I don't mean it, if the defeated smile I think I've got in my face says anything.

Due to having to blend into the Muggle World, we all are wearing muggle clothes. But honestly, having grown up muggle-like, I don't think it was much of a problem. I just stuck on a pair of Will's old jeans, a blue jacket and a purple casual shirt. I owned a fair bit of purple items of clothing as they matched my hair. At the beginning of summer, I bleached and dyed my previously-black hair violet. Well, my roots are still black. I also cut it myself, and it's currently up to the middle of my neck. It's a semi-permanent hair dye, so I did bring more bottle in my trunk, but with more different colours. Hopefully, it'll last me the whole year, but I can stock up in the Christmas holiday. I guess it is weird that I chose to do it the muggle way, but I believe then at least, you can't just _Finite_ it back to being black. Oh and - I, too, have brown eyes.

Upon entering Kings Cross, I spot Heidi and her parents. Her mother is a plump women with extremely curly, black hair, however, Heidi inherits her light brown hair from her father. One thing I know is that Heidi straightens her hair quite frequently as she has naturally curly hair, so I (being her best mate) had already researched hair charms for her.

I smile and wave at her, and she responds with the same actions.

"Clarify this for me," Heidi starts, her expression between serious and _I-just-can't-actually-believe-this_ amusement, "We are walking _through_ the barrier, right?" _This is gonna happen a lot, isn't it?_ My thoughts keep me from replying straight away, but I do, with a -

"Yup- It's like….oh yes…..wait….for it….. _magic_!" The dramatic pauses and my jazz hands make Heidi roll her eyes and shake her head.

"Oh of course, how could I forget?" She mutters sarcastically. I motion my hands to the brick barrier between platform 9 and 10. All around us are either muggles heading to work in fancy business suits or more magical families and children making their way to the barrier. I can hear trains starting and slowing down along with the endless chatter about.

"Just watch William go through," I say quietly to her, and she nods back, eyes fixed on Will. He looks back at my parents behind me who also nod at him to go, and then runs towards the wall. And then- he's gone. I can see Heidi's mouth fall open. I try and catch her attention, then raise my eyebrow at her, and she quickly flushes.

"I'm sorry, YOU may see this everyday, but I'm new here." She huffs at me, and then huffs even more once I start chuckling. By the time I turn back towards the barrier, I just manage to catch my parents and Alex go through. Heidi's parents are behind us, just as dumbfounded as I presume their daughter felt.

"Mr and Mrs Smith….I think my parents explained the whole running through the wall, yes?" I question, after turning my head towards them.

"Yes, Corey….it's just so….We'll hold onto Heidi's trolley, do you want to go first?" Heidi's mum asks me, shaking herself into mother-mode.

"Nah, you can." I decline, and move my trolley out the way to let all three of them pass. Seeming a lot more nervous than my parents were, they all run towards the barrier together. Then, I pass through.

For the past two years, I was the one of those kids, standing next to their parents waving off an older sibling. But this year, I'm not. Families are packed around the scarlet engine. I can hear "Bye"s', "Love you!"s' and"….behave…"s' along the platform. I spot Heidi and Will getting onto the train and our families waving. I push my trolley briskly and get myself on train.

"Where are we gonna sit?" Heidi asks me, opening a small packet of Skittles.

"In a compartment, probably." I reply, glancing at the packet, expectantly. She sighs and hands a few over.

"I guessed as much, silly. _Which_ compartment?" She mends. I suddenly realise we are just walking aimlessly; I scan the compartment windows and ..wait- that's full, no, not that one…..

"Empty!" I say. It must have been quite loud, since Heidi jumped. Sliding open the door, I enter the compartment and sit down. Heidi sits opposite me. After a minute of silence, I ask her a question.

"I'm gonna guess, cause you're an absolute bookworm-"

"So are you," she interrupts, but I ignore that.

"That you read most of the books on the list? Like Hogwarts: A History, and stuff?" I finish, and look back at her.

"Yeah…...my summer reading was quite full this year. Why do you ask?" She replies, knowingly.

"What house do you think you're gonna-"

I'm interrupted, again, but not by Heidi, but by the compartment door opening. There, is stood a girl our age with long, raven black hair and pale skin. I recognise her immediately.

"Seraphina!" I exclaim, excitedly, launching out of my seat to give her a hug. Seraphina gives me a warm smile before realising what I'm about to do. She hugs me back, awkwardly. Compared to my jeans and Heidi's casual dress, Seraphine looks a lot more …..formal, I guess. She is wearing a navy turtleneck which is tucked into a pair of loose, pitch black trousers.

"Hey Corey. How are you?" Her voice is more calmer and controlled than mine, but that's presumably due to her being a pureblood and an introvert. She sits down gracefully, and puts her hands on the seat, one each side of her.

"I'm fine, I haven't seen you in ages." I've finally sat down as well. Heidi smiles weakly at Seraphina, more shy than usual. "Oh- right. Seraphina? This is Heidi, Heidi- this is Seraphina." I gesture to the person as I say their name.

"What were you saying, Corey?" Heidi prompts, whilst holding up the packing of Skittles, as if asking her if Seraphina wants any. Seraphina shakes her head, and looks at me.

"What house do you two think you're gonna be in?" I repeat. Internally, I can't wait to tell them what house I believe I'm gonna be in, but I want to hear theirs first, so I pause.

"Ravenclaw or Slytherin." Seraphina answers quickly, "I can't imagine being in any other one."

I look at her thoughtfully, "Yeah...I think that suits you. Heidi?"

"I'm not too sure, I really want to be in Ravenclaw, but I have this weird feeling that I'm gonna be in Hufflepuff." She answers, slowly, waiting for a comment.

"Why am I not surprised you said Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff, though? No offense, but I don't think the most….er….caring person ever." Seraphina looks at me, shocked, but Heidi simply replies, unfazed:

"Yeah, that's true." She puts the empty packet in the pocket of her coat. "I agree, it's not like I like others as easily as you do. You get along with most people, but me? I just can't bare most of them." But then, rapid realisation hits her. "Not you, Seraphina- you seem nice. But do you have a shortened version of your name? It's pretty long."

"No. You know, Corey said the same thing." She replies, making eye contact with me.

"Yeah- I remember that! For some reason, you never liked my suggestions! No clue why…"I say, laughing. Seraphina just looks at me, exasperatedly.

"Yes, because ' _Phina'_ and ' _Sera'_ and ' _Raph'_ and ' _Sina'_ are perfectly _normal_ names."

"Well….." I start, unable to finish. Heidi just looks between us, and then bursts out laughing. The tension that I never noticed, broke.

"Point taken. Seraphina it is! What house do you think your gonna be in, Corey?" The laughter has died down now.

"I guess either Hufflepuff or Slytherin."

"Hm….wasn't that the house your parents were in?" Seraphina asks, intrigued.

"Yup- Mum was a Slytherin, Dad was a Hufflepuff. I don't think it really matters in our family though, we are pretty different. Will's in Ravenclaw, and I'm pretty sure Alex is going to be a Hufflepuff." I reply, sighing. Damn, I'm tired already.

"True. Corey?"

"Yeah, Seraphina?"

"Why's your hair purple?"


End file.
